In the shadow-filled days that followed Oct. 7, 2023, few things were as clear as the solemn understanding that what was cannot be again, and that things must change.
Three years on, and ahead of the first elections since that day, with polls pointing toward yet another political deadlock, that realization has still not produced a clear collective answer to the question of how.
Israel stands at an extraordinary moment, rapidly approaching Election Day on Oct. 27. We face serious threats, among the most troubling since our nation’s modern rebirth: a decline in our global standing, rising antisemitism, a weakening connection with Jewish communities abroad and, above all, a paralyzing internal divide over the questions that define who we are.
The leaders facing this moment cannot be those who deepen that divide. Israel now needs a broad, moderate Zionist government – stretching from the responsible right to the responsible left, and strong enough to govern without dependence on political radicals.
This is not simply an argument about coalition politics. It is a strategic necessity.
When it comes to Israel-US relations, Israelis should take California Congressman Brad Sherman’s recent warning about the erosion of support for Israel in America seriously, particularly because it comes from one of Israel’s longstanding Democratic friends. The rhetoric and radical positions of figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, can cause damage to Israel’s standing even when they do not become government policy or are executed on the ground.
US-Israel alliance must transcend partisan politics
Israel does not have to agree with every criticism coming from Washington. We are a sovereign country and must make our own security decisions while working to reduce unnecessary dependence on external support. But when friends who have defended Israel for decades tell us that something is going wrong, we should listen. The US-Israel alliance cannot be held hostage to partisan politics. Presidents change, congressional majorities change, and political generations change. The alliance must be strong enough to endure all of them.
The same is true of Israel’s relationship with American Jewry. American Jews should never have to support every Israeli minister or government to demonstrate their support for Israel. Criticism of a political vision is not a rejection of the Jewish state. American Jews remain outside Israel’s democratic arena, but Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and we must protect the dialogue over our shared future. Governments come and go; Jewish peoplehood does not.
That responsibility also has a religious dimension. The Western Wall should symbolize the shared history and destiny of the Jewish people. Instead, narrow coalition politics have allowed the question of how Jews can pray there to become another source of division between Israel and Jews abroad. I have said before that the Western Wall is large enough to accommodate everyone. It still is.
The consequences of disproportionate leverage for radicals do not stop at Israel’s borders. The Abraham Accords demonstrated what the alternative can look like. They shattered the assumption that Israel was condemned to isolation from much of our region.
The next chapter could be even more consequential. A regional architecture connecting Israel, the United States, and moderate Arab and Muslim countries through security, technology, trade, and shared strategic interests could reshape Israel’s position for generations.
But Israel needs the political room to pursue it.
We cannot make regional normalization a strategic priority while allowing political factions fundamentally opposed to compromise to exercise disproportionate influence over national policy.
Radical minority factions have gained outsized influence beyond their public support
Israel’s problem is not that the majority of Israelis have become radical. It is that our political system repeatedly gives radical minorities power far beyond their public support.
After a decade of political struggles, I have concluded that this model cannot provide the broad base required to make and effectively implement decisions on Israel’s fundamental national challenges.
That is why I believe Israel needs a broad Zionist government anchored by moderate forces. The purpose is to create enough political strength across the responsible Zionist center that extremists are no longer indispensable and no longer possess veto power over Israel’s national direction.
A broad coalition can embrace political diversity while being built on core, shared principles
Broad does not mean without principles. Such a government can and should contain serious disagreements between right, center and left. Zionism has never required political uniformity. But its members must share basic responsibilities: defending the country and sharing its burdens; preserving Israel as Jewish and democratic; respecting the rule of law; rejecting racism and political violence; and understanding that decisions made in Jerusalem affect Israel’s alliances and the Jewish people as a whole.
For the sake of Israel’s future and Jewish unity, we must restore political power to the broad moderate majority and ensure that narrow political interests do not outweigh the wider national interest.
Decisions made in Jerusalem do not stop at the doors of the Knesset. The political leaders who make them can and will determine how they echo in Washington, in synagogues, on campuses, in Jewish organizations and in families throughout the Diaspora.
Never has that responsibility mattered more.
Former defense minister Benny Gantz is the chairman of the Blue & White Party.